The Sense of Unremitting Freefall in the Economy No Longer Present, Summers

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” White House economic adviser Larry Summers said that the sense of “unremitting freefall” in the economy has disappeared and the picture is no longer totally negative, but rather mixed.

From CNNMoney: “There are some negative indicators, to be sure. There are also some positive indicators. And no one knows what the next turn will be. But I think that sense of unremitting freefall that we had a month or two ago is not present today. And that’s something we can take some encouragement from,” he added.

Summers also said “the economy will continue to decline for some time to come,” but noted that the consensus among economic forecasters suggests the economy will perform better by the end of the year.

Directing his attention on the auto industry Summers told Fox News that the administration is holding out hope that Chrysler can stay out of bankruptcy court.

From Fox News:”We will certainly do our part to support a successful negotiation, but on the other hand, the president has made clear — and I think most Americans would share this view — that you’ve got to have responsibility, you’ve got to have accountability and you can’t have a situation where companies precede on permanent basis relying only on cash from the government,” Summers said.

Chrysler LLC survival depends if it can work out a joint venture with Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA. The automaker has until Thursday to make that deal happen.

“We’re hopeful that the negotiations, which have preceding with great energy, are going to conclude successfully,” Summers said. “You never know — with any negotiation — until the very end. There are some issues that have been worked out. There are some issues that remain to be worked out, but it’s in everybody’s interest to see these negotiations succeed and we’re hopeful that they will,” Summers added.